Tinkering is Universal
by Sunny Lighter
Summary: When Gaea exploded, Leo woke up alive again on another planet. Fortunately the natives seem friendly, if they could just figure out what each other was saying. Ratchet and Clank weren't sure what they were dealing with when a portal dropped a kid and his metal dragon in their yard. Two-Shot plus Epilogue, set after BoO and Into the Nexus.
1. Part 1- Leo

A/N For those who don't know, or can't tell, this takes place after Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus, and right at the end of Blood of Olympus. Spoilers for both, if you don't want them, don't read.

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**Tinkering is Universal**

Part 1- Leo

Leo had been one hundred percent certain he was dead. Then something jolted in his brain, making him jerk back to life. Hopefully in a non Frankenstein or zombie way. He didn't seem to have developed an appetite for brains yet, so that was a good sign.

Looking up, he saw large hypodermic needle retract from his arm and into Festus, who was crouched over him protectively.

Realizing if Festus was above him, they probably weren't flying anymore, so he sat up and looked around. To his left; Sand. Nothing but sand and a few rocks as far as the eye could see. And past that, there were some rocky formations in the distance. No sign of any civilization.

'_Did I get blasted all the way to the Gobi? Or when we blew her up, was Gaea so full of this stuff that we buried everyone?'_

He immediately dismissed the second thought. Mother Earth or not, it wasn't likely Gaea was that much of a dirt-bag.

Smirking at his internal pun, he looked over to his right, and that's when things got more interesting.

As a child of Hephaestus, there were some things that Leo recognized anywhere, and a garage was one of them. It was a big, weirdly shaped metal garage with weird tubes coming out of it, but it was a garage, and garages most often meant tools and junk that He could use.

That's when he noticed who, or rather, _**what**_ was standing in the doorway of said garage. He felt stupid for not having noticed it earlier, Festus had been growling at it the entire time he'd been up.

It was short, and fuzzy, and Leo had never seen anything like it. At first he thought it was a giant two-legged Chihuahua, because its ears and head were really big compared to its body. But after rubbing his eyes, and squinting at it, he concluded it looked a bit more like a giant cat instead. A big yellow cat with orange stripes, and wearing an aviator helmet and an orange jumpsuit that looked straight out of a sci-fi series.

'_Wow my life is weird_,' Leo thought for what must have been the millionth time since discovering he was a demigod, and for some time before that.

The cat-thing didn't seem to have noticed Leo, at least not yet. It had its hands out in front of it in the universal signal for 'I come in peace' as it tried to coax Festus to calm down, or at least for the dragon to stop snarling in its face.

Also the creature was talking. Leo couldn't understand a word of what it was saying, but it was speaking up at Festus in claming tones. Listening to it, Leo concluded the cat-thing was a he, the voice it was speaking in sounded male at least.

Finally, the big cat seemed to convince Festus he meant no harm, and the metal dragon all but collapsed onto his side, careful not to crush Leo when it did.

In doing so, Leo was brought to the attention of the cat-thing. Leo brought his hand to his toolbelt nervously. He couldn't remember hearing about big-eared cat people when talking about all the monsters in Greek and Roman mythology, but it would be just his luck to have to fight one right after coming back from the dead.

Still, he would like to think Festus wouldn't take a snooze around something that wanted to kill him. At least, not without barbequing it first.

"Who are you," he called to the cat. Maybe a name would give him an idea on who he may or may not be fighting.

The cat's ears twitched, and he looked at Leo with an expression that seemed just as confused as Leo felt.

'_Great,_' Leo thought sarcastically. _'The Cats musical is in town, and the main attraction doesn't speak English.'_

Just then a second voice cut through his thoughts, and called his attention away from the cat-thing.

Standing in front of him was a small silver robot. To the untrained eye the little machine looked like one of those toy robots kids played with, that could walk and make pre-programmed motions. It had a round head with green lights for eyes, and a mouth on a hinge. The head was resting on a square metal body, and arms and legs sticking out.

But Leo could see that despite the robot's simple appearance, the technology put into it was way more advanced than anything he'd ever seen before.

Unable to help himself, Leo snatched the robot off the ground to get a closer look.

The robot let out a surprised yelp, and a moment later Leo became aware of the sound of crackling electricity near his head.

He looked up to see the cat-thing was much closer now, and was holding the most drool-worthy wrench in Leo's face that he had ever seen.

A weaponized wrench, why hadn't he ever thought of that. He needed to make himself one of those. The one currently aimed at his face looked big and heavy enough to bash someone's skull in, and the head of it was crackling with electricity. Its owner held it right in front of Leo, his expression murderous, and ready to strike at any moment.

"Whoa, whoa," said Leo, waiving his arms in what he hoped was a disarming manner, regardless of the fact he was still holding the robot in one hand. "I was just looking."

The robot yelped again at being swung around, and the cat glared at him even harder.

This time Leo registered the yelp, and looked down at the robot in his hands. Said robot was glaring at him. There was no other word for it. The optics on its eyes were narrowed, and its hands were on its 'hips,' and it was glaring up at him with an expression that was distinctly unamused.

Leo glanced at the cat again, who was doing a very good impression of Grumpy Cat. Once they made eye contact the cat nodded at the robot, and then jerked his head towards the ground.

The message was perfectly clear. _Put the robot down, and no one gets hurt._

Leo carefully placed the robot back on the sandy ground.

Instantly the cat lowered its weapon, and the robot scurried over to stand beside it.

The cat looked down at the little robot in what could only be concern, and asked it something in their strange language. The robot replied in a reassuring tone that Leo hoped wasn't them deciding to kill him.

The cat nodded at whatever he said, then turned his attention back to Leo. He gave Leo a dirty look, but he holstered his wrench and reached out his hand to help Leo up.

Leo didn't want to offend the big cat with weapons again, so he accepted the hand up. As he did so, he let out a hiss of pain. Who knew coming back from the dead would leave you so sore.

The cat's face had switched from annoyed to concerned, and he asked Leo a question which sounded like cat-speak for _'Are you alright_?'

Leo gave him a grin and said, "I just blew up Mother Earth, and came back from the dead. Dude, I couldn't be more awesome."

The cat gave him a bewildered but amused look at his response, and then looked down at his robot.

The robot eyed him up and down, and Leo got a funny feeling that he was being x-rayed.

The robot then gave the cat what Leo could only assume was a confirmation of his health. The cat nodded at whatever it said, then they both turned their eyes over to Festus.

Leo looked at his dragon as well, a little hurt his metal buddy hadn't come to his rescue when the cat had been pointing an electrified weapon at his face.

It was perfectly clear why Festus hadn't helped when he was being threatened. The poor dragon was a mess. He was still in one piece, but he was banged up pretty bad.

The most obvious piece of damage came from a large chunk of Imperial Gold cannon ball that was wedged into Festus's side. That had to be painful.

Leo rushed to the dragon's side and gripped the chunk of metal with both hands, trying to pry it out. But the metal was sharp and hot from the desert sun, and Leo couldn't keep his grip.

He began searching through his toolbelt for something he could use to pry it out. But the piece of Imperial Gold was huge. He wasn't sure the size limit of his belt could give him something that could be useful.

The clink of metal on metal brought his attention back to the gold lodged in his dragon. He saw that the cat had taken his giant weaponized wrench, and had clamped it down on the Imperial Gold. The cat had positioned himself so that he could start prying the gold out. He glanced over at Leo, and shifted so there was room for Leo to hold onto the wrench too. He then gave Leo a flat look that clearly said, '_Well, it's your dragon, are you going to help, or not?'_

Leo needed no further prompting. He grabbed the handle of the wrench, and together the two of them were able to pry the Imperial Gold out of Festus. Once it was removed the metal dragon let out a loud, creaking, metallic groan, which was the equivalent of a big sigh of relief.

Without the gold lodged in his side, Leo could see that the rest of the damage was fixable, and Festus might even be fight-worthy right now, though not for a long distance.

Knowing he could fix the damage, he figured he'd better get a few answers before making repairs. First things first, now that he was fairly certain they weren't going to kill him, introductions were in order.

He looked over at the cat and the robot and pointed at himself. "Leo," he said as clearly as he could. He then pointed at the metal dragon, "Festus."

Introductions couldn't get much simpler than that.

The cat and robot exchanged amused glances, and the cat pointed at himself. "Ratchet," he said. He then pointed down to the robot. "Clank."

Leo blinked in surprise at the names. His new companions had the same names as one of his favorite tools, and one of his favorite sounds… Alright, his life had been weirder. Maybe the names meant something different in whatever language they spoke.

He reached out a hand in greeting, "Nice to meet you," he said in a friendly tone.

Apparently they still had handshakes wherever he was, because both Ratchet and Clank shook his hand, and said their own greetings.

Now for the next question, that might be more difficult to convey through the language barrier.

"Where am I?" Leo asked, using his hand gestures to try to make the question as clear as possible. He really hoped it worked. Otherwise he just looked really stupid.

Fortunately the other two seemed to have been anticipating that question, though Leo wasn't sure at first, as they seemed unsure on how to answer it.

Finally, Clank darted into the garage and came out holding another robot. This one didn't have any legs. Just a large square-ish head with big eyes, two arms and a small body.

Clank placed the new robot in front of Leo, and its head split apart like it was opening its mouth. Inside the mouth was a TV-screen that began playing a video.

It showed Ratchet working on some machine in the garage and talking towards the camera. Then a loud boom from outside sent Ratchet and Clank (Leo was assuming from the lack of small robot, that the video was from Clank's point of view) running out of the garage and looking up at the sky.

In the sky outside the garage a swirling vortex opened up, and dumped Festus and Leo on the ground in front of them.

The video ended, and Leo could guess what happened from there.

Ratchet then gestured to the area around them. "Veldin," he said, and Leo assumed that was the name of the place he was now at.

Swirling vortxes that led to garages owned by alien cat-people and their robot buddies. This was definitely not in any Greek or Roman myth. At least none that Leo had ever heard. This was somehing straight out of Doctor Who.

"How do I get back?" he asked more to himself than anything. He stared up at the sky where the vortex had shown up on the video. There was nothing there but sky as far as he could see.

Ratchet sent him a sympathetic glance, probably having guessed what he'd said. He glared up at where the vortex had been and grumbled "Progs," under his breath.

So Leo may be stuck on some weird desert planet or something, but at least he was learning some new alien swear words from the experience. Trying to see things on the bright side might help him ignore the fact he might never see his friends again. Happy thoughts.

Clank then interrupted Leo's inner pep talk, and said something that drew Ratchet's attention away from the lack of portal in the sky.

The cat frowned at whatever the little robot had said, and replied in a skeptical tone. Then he turned, and climbed to the roof of his garage. Then Ratchet took a running jump off the roof.

Leo was about to shout in alarm about that, when light burst from the bottoms of Ratchet's feet, and Leo gaped in shock.

'_Rocket boots! That big fuzz-ball had rocket boots! Cool!' _

Leo was so busy making mental blueprints to make his own, that he almost didn't notice when Ratchet used the boots to propel himself into the sky. He reached up and his hand seemed to brush against something. All of a sudden the vortex was back and spinning above their heads.

Ratchet landed next to Leo, and the three watched as the vortex shimmered above them for a minute, then disappeared again.

'_So, it's still there,'_ Leo concluded. _'It's just out of sight until something disturbs it.'_

So all he needed to do was fly Festus back through it. Leo looked over his dragon. He was sure Festus was at least flight-worthy, but for how long was the question. It would _probably_ be bad if he crashed in the middle of a portal. If he could just make some repairs before he left…

"How long will it be there?" he asked, forgetting momentarily his new companions had no idea what he was saying. He remembered it quickly from the confused expressions on their faces.

Leo reached into his belt and pulled out a watch and showing it to them. "How long-?" he started to ask, but broke off, wondering if they even knew what a watch was.

But they both seemed to recognize the clock, and Clank spouted off an answer that Leo couldn't understand.

Ratchet then pointed up at the sun above their heads, then slowly trialed his finger down westward till it was pointing at the distant mountains.

Sunset then. That was plenty of time.

"Mind if I fix Festus in your yard?" Leo asked, pointing to Festus, and pulling tools out of his belt. He didn't know why he was still bothering to talk, be he supposed some part of him was hoping they'd suddenly start understanding him and talk back. One sided conversations weren't half as much fun as mutual communication.

The two exchanged another glance and shrugged at each other. The Ratchet nodded and said something with a gesture that Leo took as '_Do what you want._'

And so Leo started his repairs on Festus. At first he was aware that Ratchet was watching him work from over his shoulder. But that soon faded into the background. Leo was in his element. Building and fixing things were what he did, what he'd been born to do, and there was nothing more soothing to him than that.

At least until Ratchet decided to point something out.

Leo was brought back to Earth (or Veldin, was that the name of the desert or the planet, neither would surprise him), when the large cat started pointing at something in Festus's cables and began chattering in his ear.

"Dude, what?" Leo asked, trying to decipher what had the fuzz-ball so excited.

Ratchet made several gestures and said a lot of things Leo didn't understand. Finally the cat rolled his eyes and threw up his hands in exasperation, and then marched back into his garage. To the side, Clank chuckled in amusement.

Ratchet emerged a minute later with a high-tech looking gadget. He then slipped past Leo, and quickly began adding the part into Festus's mechanics.

"Hey," yelped Leo, when he realized what the hairball was doing.

But when he moved to stop him, Ratchet had already finished what he had been doing. Leo was about to yell at him, when Festus let out a loud happy sounding purr.

Leo looked at his dragon in surprise. "You like that?"

Festus let out a string of happy messages in Mores Code.

"Huh," said Leo, looking closer at the part, then at Ratchet, who was standing by looking proud of himself.

"So what's that do?" he asked the cat both in words and hand gestures. "And do you have any other ideas?"

Ratchet beamed at him, and began explaining as best he could.

Things only went up from there. Once Leo got the gist of Ratchet's modification, he let the big cat help him with repairing Festus, just as long as he ran all other new attachments by Leo as best he could before adding them.

With that things just clicked. It didn't matter that Leo was a demigod and was probably from another planet, or that Ratchet had a fluffy tail and wore rocket boots, they were just two guys working on a machine, and finding new ways to jazz it up. Ratchet was full of ideas that he was eager to share, and his ideas helped spark new ideas in Leo, that he wanted to try.

Suddenly different languages wasn't such a big issue.

Clank kept a close eye on the two of them as they worked, and while he hid it well, Leo would see him pull out a fire extinguisher whenever he or Ratchet did something that may explode (and sometimes when they were doing things that wouldn't). Often times he would interject and speak in very Annabeth sounding voice, pointing out things Ratchet and Leo did that he found illogical or dangerous. Ratchet would always reply with a snarky sounding retort, and do whatever he was planning anyway. When it worked, Ratchet would send the bot a smug grin. When it didn't he'd shrug, and seemed to follow Clank's advise.

Clanks lectures towards Leo had little more success. He still had no idea what the little robot was saying, so he'd just take a closer look at what he was working on. Sometimes he would spot what he assumed was the problem, and fixed it. Other times he couldn't see what was wrong, and just continued as he was. If what he missed was too bad, Ratchet would run over and stop him, then point out the problem. Fortunately that only had to happened once.

All in all, it was some of the most fun Leo had had since leaving Camp Half-Blood for New Rome.

All too soon the sun was starting to hang low in the sky. Standing back to look at their handiwork, Leo had to give himself a pat on the back. Festus was looking better than ever. The repairs and futuristic additions Leo and Ratchet had made had the dragon standing prouder than ever.

Festus seemed to realize this, and sent a plume of flames into the air to show off.

The flames caused the portal above them to become visible again, and Leo could see that it seemed smaller this time than it did when Ratchet activated it hours before.

"Guess I better get going," said Leo regretfully.

His new friends nodded in understanding, also looking disappointed that time was up.

Leo shook Ratchet's hand again before moving to do the same for Clank.

He then climbed up onto Festus' back and with one last wave goodbye, Festus took off towards the vortex.

As he flew away, Leo couldn't help but call out, "SEE YA' CHIHUAHUA-CAT MAN! BYE TIN GRIN! YOU'RE BOTH NOW OFFICIAL MEMBERS OF TEAM LEO!"

The last thing he saw before flying into the vortex was Ratchet and Clank's bemused faces as they waved back, and Ratchet yelling something after him. Leo knew none of his friends were ever going to believe him about this little adventure.

He was still going to tell them anyway.

The ride through the vortex was over in the blink of an eye. Leo looked around and saw that he and Festus were soaring above the clouds.

Leo opened the access panel on the back of Festus's neck. The astrolabe and the crystal were active, and a quick look at his GPS and compass told him all he needed to know.

"Festus, good news!" he called. "Our navigation readings are _completely _messed up!"

Festus let out a creak, and Leo grinned. "Yeah! Descend! Get us below the clouds and maybe-"

Festus broke through the clouds, and Leo could see Ogygia below them. He let out a loud whoop of joy, as the dragon took them down.

Calypso was there waiting for him.

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A/N This came from a combination reading all of Blood of Olympus in one night, coupled with watching Ratchet and Clank videos in preparation for the up-coming movie (Though they still haven't given a release date, just that it'll be 'early' this year). I woke up the next morning with this in my head. It just struck me that Ratchet and Leo are kinda similar. Both are scrawny, sarcastic, funny, mechanical geniuses that are the last person you'd expect to save the day, and yet they do it anyway. I thought it'd be great if they met, and this is the result.

I'll post the second half later with Ratchet and Clank's point of view later.

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Heroes of Olympus series or Ratchet and Clank or any of it. I'm just a crossover-obsessed fangirl with too much time on her hands now that she's graduated college. Heroes of Olympus belongs to Rick Riordan, and Ratchet and Clank belongs to Insomniac Games._


	2. Part 2- Ratchet

**Tinkering is Universal**

Part 2- Ratchet

It was a typical day on Veldin. In that it was hot, dry, and no one was currently trying to destroy the planet… or the galaxy… or even the universe. In other words it was-

"Boring," said Ratchet as he worked under the hood of a hover car.

He glanced up long enough to share a wry grin with his best friend Clank.

"Typical, huh pal?" He continued. "We come out of retirement, and nothing has happened since the Progs. Yet when we were _in _retirement we were dragged into one take-over-the-galaxy plot after the other. That's our luck in a nutshell."

"I find it quite relaxing," replied Clank from his seat a safe distance away (just in case Ratchet blew up the garage, again). "Besides, it is good to know that for now the universe is not in jeopardy."

"For however long that lasts," said Ratchet sarcastically. He then smiled at the robot. "I'm glad there's nothing bad happening too. I just wish there was something a little more interesting to do right now than fix this old hover car."

Right on cue there was a loud **'BOOM!' **outside the garage. Ratchet paused only long enough to grab his OmniWrench, before he and Clank rushed out to see what the commotion was about.

There in the sky a swirling vortex had opened up, much like the ones caused by the Dimensionator. It wasn't too uncommon of an occurrence in the last few months. Ever since Vendra Prog had worn the barriers between dimensions thin in her quest to free the Nethers, there had been reported occurrences of portals between dimensions opening in random places though out the galaxies.

Clank had contacted Sigmund at the Great Clock about it, and after much testing and theorizing the two robots had concluded that the damage to the dimensional barriers would repair its self eventually. Until then they just had to wait it out, and hope for the best.

So far no one had been hurt and the portals would close again after a few hours. The worst that had happened was thus far was when a Thugs-4-Less goon had gone through one hoping to steal something valuable and otherworldly. He'd come back traumatized, claiming their whole universe was nothing but a game for Qwark like aliens to manipulate as they pleased.

Needless to say he was tossed in the loonybin, and was now spending his days in a padded cell. Why would anyone want to play a game about their universe?

After that incident, people were cautioned to avoid the vortexes until they closed again. Still, Ratchet kept an ear out for every portal that opened. Just in case one of them happened to lead to his people, the other Lombaxes. If that happened… well, he wasn't sure what he would do, but he could at least inform them that Tachyon was gone, if nothing else.

Back to the vortex outside his garage. Something large and metal fell out of the portal, and landed in a heap in his yard, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Ratchet squinted through the dust. When it finally cleared he got his first look at the new interdimensional intruder.

It was a dragon. A large, metal, mechanical dragon with glowing red eyes, crouching around something underneath it in order to protect it.

When the dragon caught sight of the two of them, it's head shot forward and it snapped at them with its drill like teeth.

Ratchet grabbed Clank and jumped back, narrowly avoiding the dragon's teeth. The dragon didn't make another attempt to bite them. But it glared at them with its shining red eyes and snarled at them warningly, daring them to try and come any closer.

"I believe this is an excellent case of, 'Be careful what you wish for,' Ratchet," said Clank sardonically.

"Hey, don't blame me for this," said Ratchet, rolling his eyes at his friend's quip.

When the Dragon made no further moves to come after them so long as they kept their distance, Ratchet managed to pull his gaze away from the sharp teeth and examine the rest of the robot.

It was a fantastic piece of metalwork and it was clearly sentient, if a bit feral. Its bronze and gold scales gleamed in the Veldin sunlight, and its wings were vast. But despite the craftsmanship put into the dragon, it had clearly seen better days. There was soot and dirt covering most of it, and it was dented and smoking in various placed, and it had wires exposed in others. However, the most obvious damage was the large chunk of gold that was wedge into the dragon's side, severing various wires, and limiting the dragon's ability to move.

"It's hurt," said Ratchet, pointing out the damage to Clank.

Clank scanned the dragon from head to tail, and nodded. "My scans detect several areas of damage both inside and outside his body. However, I do not believe it will allow us to come any closer in order to repair it."

The dragon let out another snarl as if confirming Clank's assessment.

Ratchet held his hands up in an effort to calm the dragon down. "Whoa, whoa, big guy," he said trying to calm the dragon down. "We just want to help. Right, Clank?"

"Indeed," said Clank, though he kept his distance.

The dragon's snarls lowered in volume somewhat, but did not dissipate, and Ratchet got the feeling he was being judged.

"Really," Ratchet continued. "You're hurt. Clank and I only want to help. Helping people is kinda what we do."

Ratchet noticed something shifting under the dragon's legs, something that the dragon had been protecting since its arrival.

"We won't hurt whatever you're protecting either," he said. "We just want to help, I promise."

Finally, it seemed like the Lombax had convinced the metal creature, that or it couldn't sustain the damage anymore, and it all but collapsed on its uninjured side.

Ratchet let out a sigh of relief that he was no longer being growled at by something with big, sharp teeth.

That was when he saw that what the dragon had been guarding had been uncovered when he collapsed. It was an organic life form, that much was certain, most likely male from the body shape. He looked a bit like a Markazian kid, but was lacking in the long pointed ears and tail department. The skin tone was also wrong, tan instead of pale purple, and it lacked the spots they typically had. Of course it was hard to tell that for sure, since the kid was covered in as much soot as the dragon, and was dressed in rags.

Whatever he was, he was staring at Ratchet with wide eyes, and had yet to move from his sitting position on the ground.

The visitor seemed to find his voice, and called out to Ratchet. The problem was, what the boy said was complete gibberish.

Ratchet's ear twitched and he stared at the boy in confusion. "Did you get any of that, Clank?" he asked softly.

"It was no language I am familiar with," replied Clank. "Perhaps he hit his head in the fall, and it is effecting his speech functions."

Clank walked over to where the boy was sitting in order to scan him for injuries. Doing a quick preliminary scan he called back to Ratchet. "He has no major injuries that I can find. I will do a more thorough scan."

However, his comment had brought the robot to the boy's attention. Before Clank could react he was snatched from the ground with a surprised yelp and examined closely by the boy.

Ratchet was moving a heartbeat later. Nobody messed with his best friend.

With his OmniWrench charged and ready, he held it out threateningly, making the boy freeze. All the while he kept an ear open for movements from the dragon, in case it decided to start protecting the boy again.

The boy seemed to take a moment to admire his OmniWrench, before realizing he was being threatened. He chattered in a panicked voice, swing his Clank around as he waved his hands.

Clank let out another disgruntled noise, causing the boy to look at him again.

Clank treated the boy to one of his best glares. The type of glare that could convince Ratchet to stop doing something reckless far better than any logic Clank could impose on him.

The boy seemed startled by Clank's glare, and looked back up at Ratchet.

The Lombax nodded to Clank then jerked his head towards the ground. He didn't see how he could make a nonverbal _'Put my best friend down or else,_' any more clear.

Thankfully this time the boy seemed to get the message, and he carefully placed Clank back on the ground. Ratchet lowered his OmniWrench to his side, and Clank immediately got some distance between himself and the intruder, incase he got grabby again.

"You okay, pal?" Ratchet asked in concern.

"I am alright, Ratchet," Clank replied. "I do not believe the boy meant any harm. It seems he was simply curious about me. Do not hold it against him."

Ratchet scowled, and holstered his OmniWrench more securely. If Clank didn't think he meant any harm, then he probably didn't. Plus, it didn't take a genius to see that the boy was just a kid. Impulsive behavior was probably hardwired into this brain.

Seeing that the boy was still sitting where he landed, Ratchet held out a hand to help. The boy tentively took it, and was pulled to his feet with a hiss of pain.

Ratchet looked him over in concern. It had been quite a fall he'd had, and he had ended up under the dragon, there could be injuries they weren't seeing.

"Are you okay?" Ratchet asked, hoping he'd be able to guess his question and point at what hurt.

The boy just gave him a big grin and jabbered away in his own language. Ratchet was briefly reminded of Skrunch the Cyclo-Monkey, and how he would happily screech at people in a language only Qwark could understand, but didn't often translate.

Seeing as he wouldn't be able to get a straight answer from the kid, he turned to Clank for his expert opinion.

Clank did a more in depth scan of the kid, and said, "He appears to have no injuries other than a few minor bruises and being filthy. It appears that he simply doesn't speak our language."

Ratchet nodded at Clank's assessment. "Well that might be a problem," he replied, turning his attention back to the metal dragon that was still collapsed in his yard. The fact that it had not even twitched while he was threatening its charge was worrying.

The boy finally seemed to realize the full state of his dragon, and let out an exclamation of alarm at the sight of it.

He then ran to the dragon's side and attempted to pull the gold chunk out with his bare hands.

Needless to say it was a useless effort, and the kid quickly realized that. He stopped trying to pull it out, and began shifting through a toolbelt around his waist for something he could use.

Ratchet doubted he was carrying anything big enough to pry the gold out. Figuring he might as well help out, Ratchet clamped his OmniWrench onto the gold, and positioned himself so he could pry it out.

When he noticed the boy staring at him for his actions, he shifted so the boy could help if he wanted too. When the kid hesitated, Ratchet shot him a glare. _'You gonna help or not?' _he all but asked.

That spurred the kid to come over. Together the two of them were able to pry the gold out of the dragon. The dragon let out a loud, creaking, metallic groan, which caused the boy to let out a sigh of relief and smile a bit.

After the kid looked over the dragon to see the rest of the damage, he turned his attention back to Ratchet and Clank.

The kid dramatically pointed at himself. "Leo," he said slowly and clearly as if he was talking to a small child. He then pointed to the mechanical dragon and said "Festus."

Ratchet couldn't help but be amused by the kid- Leo's- means of introducing himself. He exchanged a glance with Clank, and saw that the robot looked just as amused as he was.

'_Might as well go along with it,' _figured Ratchet, as he pointed at himself and said his name, then doing the same for Clank.

Leo looked surprised for a moment after hearing their names, but Ratchet figured that he may have heard of them before. The two of them had saved several planets, galaxies, and the universe over the years.

Leo's surprise didn't last long, as he shook each of their hands, and said what Ratchet assumed was a greeting. Though for all he knew, the kid might be insulting them and their mothers.

Despite that possibility, Ratchet merely replied with a polite hello. If he said anything insulting to the kid, regardless of whether he understood it or not, Clank would scold at him for it, and the joke would be ruined.

Leo then took a good look around the scenery and asked another question while pointing around them.

"I believe he is asking where he is, or perhaps how he arrived here?" said Clank.

"Yeah," agreed Ratchet. "I was expecting those question sooner or later. The problem is, how to answer it? I doubt he's heard of Veldin, this place is pretty backwater."

The two of them thought for a moment on how to give Leo his answer.

Finally Clank said, "I have an idea."

He ran into the garage, and Ratchet could hear scraping sounds as the small robot searched for something. He came out a second later with an old infobot.

"I uploaded my memory of Leo's arrival into this infobot," said Clank, as he set it in front of the kid. "This should answer his question as to how he got here."

The three of them watched as the events from earlier played out on the infobot's screen. After the video ended, Ratchet gestured to the area around them and said, "Veldin."

The poor kid looked lost at the news, and looked back up in the sky where the portal had been. He muttered something to himself, no doubt lamenting how he could get back.

Ratchet felt sympathy for the kid. He knew what it was like to be stuck far away from what you knew, and who you cared about.

"Progs," he growled under his breath. Vendra and Neftin had caused way too much damage to the universe. Even if he understood their pursuit for their kind, that still was no excuse for the damage they'd done.

"The portal is still there," said Clank, drawing Ratchet's attention from his angry thoughts. "My scans indicate that it is simply invisible to our perception at the moment. However if something were to come in contact with it, it should return to the visible spectrum."

"If you says so pal," said Ratchet. "Better test that out first."

Ratchet glanced up where the portal was supposed to be, and then mentally measured its distance from his garage roof.

Doable.

He quickly climbed to the roof of his garage and took a running leap off of it. Activating his hoverboots in mid air he shot up to where the portal was supposed to be.

Reaching out a hand he let it brush through the portal, causing the vortex to shimmer back into visibility.

With the portal's location confirmed Ratchet landed back on the ground to join the others in watching as the portal shimmered back out of sight.

Leo asked another question once it was gone, and this time neither Ratchet nor Clank had any idea what it meant.

The boy seemed to get frustrated at their lack of understanding, and reached into is toolbelt. He pulled out a small clock and repeated the question.

Understanding dawned on the two, and Clank replied, "I believe we have approximately five hours before the portal fades away."

So that Leo could understand the time limit, Ratchet pointed at the sun, then down to where it would be setting in five hours time.

The kid nodded and moved over to Festus, pulling tools out of his belt as he went. He asked one more question while pointing at them.

Ratchet and Clank exchanged another glance. Why would the kid need permission to work on his robot?

Ratchet looked back at the kid and nodded. "Go ahead and work on him."

Leo then set to work fixing the dragon. The mechanic in Ratchet had him watching the kid work, as the technology in the dragon were like none he'd ever seen before. Some parts seemed so advanced, and yet others were so old-fashioned they shouldn't even be working, yet they were.

Then Ratchet noticed something in the wiring that could be significantly improved with some Gadgetron tech.

But when he tried to point it out to Leo, the kid just looked at him in confusion.

All following attempts Ratchet made to explain his idea to the kid were met with more confused stares, and amused chuckles from Clank (traitor).

Finally Ratchet threw his hands up in exasperation. "Fine, I'll just show you," he grumbled as he stored into the garage to get the part he was thinking of.

Once he found it he went back out and ducked past Leo to install it into Festus's systems. Leo started to let out an alarmed shout, but he was cut off when Festus let out a happy purr.

Leo and Festus talked, before Leo moved to look at the part Ratchet had added. Upon examining it closer, the kid looked over at the Lombax and indicated he wanted to know what it did.

After Ratchet was able to convey the answer, things got a lot more fun. Leo let Ratchet help him fix up Festus, and Ratchet was able to get a closer look at the technology that went into making the dragon, as well as test some of his own ideas (provided he got the okay from Leo first).

Ratchet and Clank soon became convinced Leo had some Lombax in him somewhere. The kid was a genius with his tools, but he handled them in the same screwy, ridiculous way that Ratchet did when he had an idea for a new invention. Half the things he did, by all logic, shouldn't have been able to work, but it did. Ratchet found that he enjoyed working with someone who saw mechanics on the same wavelength as him.

Like always when Ratchet worked, Clank watched from nearby to make sure neither of them did anything that exploded in their faces, and had a fire extinguisher hidden in his chest compartment just in case. He was always eager to interject his opinion on the logic of Ratchet and Leo's modifications, much to the amusement of Ratchet, and the incomprehension of Leo.

Five hours flew by, as the two worked to fix, and in some cases, upgrade the dragon. By the time they were done Festus was a masterpiece gleaming in the light of the setting sun. The dragon seemed to agree as he blew a stream of fire into the air in celebration, as well as reactivate the portal.

Staring up at the slowly closing portal, Leo said something that Ratchet figured meant _'I need to get going.'_

Ratchet nodded, and moved to shake his hand again in farewell, Clank doing the same.

With that their new friend climbed onto the back of his dragon and took off. Before he left, Leo yelled something down to them while grinning like a lunatic and waving franticly.

"I do believe he just insulted us as part of that farewell," said an amusemed Clank as he waved goodbye.

"Two can play that game," said Ratchet smugly. "SEE YA, YOU LOUSY SON OF A QWARK!" he yelled after the boy just as he passed through the portal.

The portal vanished again after Leo passed through it, and it was sure to close up any minute now.

Ratchet and Clank turned to head back into their garage, and the Lombax grinned down at his friend. "Still think I should be careful with what I wish for?" he asked.

"I will admit, it worked out well this time, and it was an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon," admitted Clank. "However, I do believe caution is still mandatory for future wishing endeavors."

"Whatever you say, pal," said Ratchet. "Still, he was a good kid."

"Indeed," agreed Clank. "I would not be adverse to meeting him again."

"Same here," said Ratchet, before turning his attention to the large chunk of gold that they had pried out of Festus, and was now sitting in his garage. "Now the question is, what are we going to do with this?"

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A/N And that's it from Ratchet's point of view. It was still fun, and I like the dialog better with this one. Mostly because Ratchet has Clank, and can have actual conversations with him, rather than interpreting everything that is said. That, and Leo is so funny, that I worry I'm not making him funny enough.

I also have an idea for a small epilogue. I'll post that soon.

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_


	3. Epilogue- Leo

**Tinkering is Universal**

Epilogue- Leo

Once the celebrations at Camp Half-Blood had died down from the triumphant return of Leo with Calypso in tow, Leo had decided to take his new girlfriend on a tour of the modern world. So far they'd gone to get ice-cream, been to both Disney World and Universal Studios, and now Leo was introducing Calypso to the concept of the mall.

"It's huge," said Calypso in wonder, as she stared at the sheer size of the Manhattan Mall. "Is there really a need for so many stores?"

"Not really, but that's the power of consumerism," said Leo happily, enjoying the look of on Calypso's face. "If anyone really wanted to rule the world, then using that would be the way to go."

"I can believe it," said Calypso, still stunned by what she was seeing.

They started window-shopping, with Calypso eagerly pointing out all the things that interested her, and Leo answering her questions as best he could. They were both having a blast.

When they passed by the mall's Game Stop, Leo did a double take at something he saw and stopped in mid stride, causing the mall patron who was walking behind him to crash into him with an angry curse that he probably shouldn't have said in front of kids.

After shouting a hasty apology to the scowling man who had knocked into him, Leo pulled Calypso out of the current of shoppers, and closer to the video game store's window.

"What's wrong?" asked Calypso, looking at him in concern. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Leo felt like he'd seen a ghost. "Remember when I told you and the rest about where I ended up after blowing Gaea to smithereens and before I got back to you?"

"Yes," said Calypso. She had been the only one who had believed his story about falling through a portal onto an alien world. The rest of his friends had either thought he was joking, or that it had all been a dream he'd had while he was dead. Not that Leo blamed them; it was a pretty unbelievable story. He wasn't sure if Calypso believed him because he'd said it, or because she was still unused to being off her island and didn't realize how crazy it all sounded. Either way he was grateful for it.

That didn't really help his case now, as he pointed to the poster that was being shown in the window of the store, advertising a new game that had come out earlier in the year.

Calypso looked it over and read aloud, "_Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus."_

Her eyes widened. "Isn't that the names of those-?"

"Yup," said Leo, still shell shocked. "That's them on the poster too. Well, a CGI version of them, at least."

It was indeed his friends. There on the poster was an illustration of Ratchet wearing a different sci-fi jumpsuit and helmet, and holding a big high tech blaster. Clank was attached to his back like a backpack, and the two were looking determined at the swirling purple lights that surrounded them, as if just waiting to blast their enemies.

Calypso looked troubled. "You don't think it's possible that-?"

"No, it doesn't make any sense," said Leo. "I never heard of this game before now. How could I have hallucinated those guys without any prior knowledge about them? Plus it wouldn't explain all of the new tech in Festus. I tested the metals that made them, and the components of some them can't be found on Earth. I don't get this."

"Well, there's one way to find out," said Calypso taking Leo by the hand and pulling him into the shop.

The shop wasn't busy at the time, so the two were able to get the attention of the store's attendant without much trouble.

"Er, hi," said Leo feeling awkward. How do you ask if a game about a giant cat and his robot friend were based off people you'd met? "I'm interested in the game that poster advertised. The- er- Ratchet and Clank one."

The teen behind the shop's counter grinned. "A Ratchet and Clank fan, huh?"

Leo blinked at him, and Calypso asked, "Isn't it a new game?"

"In the series, yeah," said the teen. "But there's been a bunch more games before that. Plus some real good spinoffs. I hear they're making a movie based off it soon, but there's only trailers so far."

"So there are a lot of games about them?" asked Leo, unsure what to make of all this. His alien friends had their own video game.

"A whole bunch," said the teen. "Would you like to buy some?"

Leo exchanged a glance with Calypso, and he figure '_What the hey. At least this way I can keep track of my new buddies_.'

"I'll take the whole series," said Leo. If nothing else, he'd get some new games to have fun with.

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A/N The end. Unless I come up with something else. I hope you liked it. I may or may not add more after the movie comes out. Depends on how I feel after I see it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll be good. But with video game movies the odds aren't in favor of that. Still the trailers look promising.

_**Deleted Scene**_

**Later, when he reached the Into the Nexus game in the series (He figured it'd be less confusing to play the games in order), he let out a groan of disappointment after the opening cinematic.**

"**What's wrong?" asked Calypso, who was watching him play.**

"**I thought that 'Progs' was a cool alien swear word," said Leo. "But it turns out it was the bad guys last name. I've been swearing with a last name for weeks."**

"**How is that any different from when you've been swearing with Hades' name?" she replied.**

**Leo stopped to chew on that for a moment. "Good point," he said finally.**

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_


End file.
